jtex

Congratulations on your successful install. Indeed the collaboration with the fellow members of this forum and the CMax forum has allowed each of us to accomplish a complex retrofit in our vehicles. Specific to your question . . . I have not found any way to cancel the remote start. I do wonder, though, if after a remote start your vehicle will “time out” and shut down anyway if the driver with key fob has not entered the vehicle, pressed the brake pedal, and then start button. If your vehicle does “time out” that may accomplish what perhaps you are looking for functionally. Sadly since Ford recently deprecated the features/functionality of the app for us Energi and CMax owners by removing the charge control I find myself rarely using the app anymore. That Ford took this action in less than 3 years after many purchased their 2020 models makes about as much sense as building the 2020 models with 3G modems. Hopefully there will not be another feature reduction, but the sluggishness of the availability of parts for the recent safety recall has me very concerned about their overall behavior regarding the fleet of air cooled plugin hybrids. My pure electric range has gone down from 34 miles to 29, but I am very happy with the 29 as that fits my needs for most days. I wonder if after the recall parts are installed what will happen to the range. Our local dealer now has a very large inventory of Mach-E vehicles that even with big mark downs are not selling. If I wasn’t concerned they will similarly behave towards Mach E owners in the future I might have considered taking advantage of the markdowns (which I suspect will head much lower as the months go by and inventory gets out of control). Oddly Ford recently announced a renewed focus on Hybrids and Plug In Hybrids. Their attitude toward all of us makes me wonder.

Well . . . . Ford just made it official and shot themselves in the foot in that with the latest rev of FordPass (on iOS) charge times and related can no longer be controlled via the Fordpass app. So we add to the nonsense that Ford put a 3G modem in my 2020 FFE that (with the help of lots of great folks on this forum) I had to upgrade to a 4G, that now all that effort was a big waste of time and money. Removing such connected car features so soon is very short sighted on their part. They have not only lost me forever as a loyal customer (4 new ones in less than 5 years), but as more and more people learn about these kinds of “anti-customer satisfaction” decisions this only benefits Ford’s competitors. I have no idea how Ford thinks they can compete in the EV space with these kinds of decisions, but based on articles I have read about their EV inventories getting uncomfortably high it seems it is going to take them sometime to learn the importance of taking care of loyal customers.

Sadly I received the same notice for my 2020 FFE this morning. It astonishes me how Ford makes such horrible “customer anti-satisfaction” decisions that will end up via social media etc. adversely impacting their future sales. I will not bore all of you with the many paragraphs I could write on this, but in summary…this will be my last Ford. Before this purchased 4 within a span of 5 years.

It has been a rocky road at times, but together we have come a long way in a relatively short period of time from the 3G abyss ?

On a hunch I: 1) Deleted FordPass from my iPhone 2) Restarted iPhone 3) Downloaded FordPass from the Apple Appstore 4) Logged into FordPass Oil life now working again ? Thanks everyone. I guess we learned something new!

Thanks for all that have responded. I wonder if it is an app platform issue iOS vs. Android? I am on iOS . . . Anyone on iOS with Oil Life still working in the iOS FordPass app?

Has anyone that either had the conversion to 4G done by a dealer or did it themselves checked “Oil life remaining” via Fordpass in the past week? Suddenly this past week when I do I get the:“Something went wrong. Please try again later.” All was fine on this until this past week. I have made no changes in the past few months. All else works fine.

If we assume the Ford dealer service folks and Ford customer service reps are being completely candid and accurate then it would be sometime in 2023 or three full model years after the last FFE model year (2020) . . .also past the end of the 3 year bumper to bumper warranty of all the FFEs. I wonder about that and wonder why the pause if for technical reasons. With the help of the great folks on this forum I am one of the folks that successfully completed the 4G upgrade. It is now about two months later and all continues to work great. Day to day I take it for granted it works so well . . .so if for the purposes of discussion we discount any warranty or quasi legal issues what could be the problem driving the pause? If I had lots of free time and the correct test equipment an interesting experiment would be measuring a full day’s current draw of the 3G modem (TCU) when active with normal data “conversation” (impossible to do now since 3G is gone) vs. the 4G modem (TCU) with full daily data conversation. Just based on the radio transmission energy basics I would not be surprised if the 4G modem consumed more current than the 3G. The fact that the 3G modem’s enclosure was all plastic and did not have any obvious heat sinks whereas the 4G has a metal enclosure with multiple heat sinks further points to the potential of higher current drain of the 4G. We have to remember that the “H” series 4G modem both Ford and the DIY community has been installing was originally from vehicles with much larger 12v batteries than in our FFEs. Early on in my DIY adventure I ended up having to replace my 12V battery on my 2020 FFE at less than 3years life yet the 12V battery on my 2015 Fusion regular Hybrid lasted over 5 years. The FFE has the ability to send the API (perhaps modem too) into a sleep mode once the battery goes below a certain level. Perhaps this is happening to more FFE (and CMAX) users that have upgraded to 4G? As most FFE owners know . . .if the 12v battery fails it is a bit of an adventure to get in the car so you can pop the hood and get to the 12v “jumper points.” In an effort to never have to face that task and assure longer life out of my new (and surprisingly expensive) 12v battery I installed a properly fused weather proof “SAE” type connector well hidden on the outside of the car. When I plug in the main 240v charge cable in the garage I also now plug into that SAE connector a BatteryTender (Deltran makes a nice fully automatic 4amp max version that works well). Since I started that doing that I have never had the “system disabled to protect battery” on Sync in the morning for no matter how many days the car has been just sitting dormant in the garage. Note that if you should decide to add such a externally accessible 12v “charge port” on your vehicle you must make sure it is properly fused (I went with 3amp), cables have the proper gauge with high temperature insulation, is routed to be protected from elements, proper high temp cable ties are used, connect to the correct “jumper” points under the hood using proper connectors, etc. Doing such a retrofit without these aspects properly implemented could not only damage your vehicle, but cause a fire and thereby damaging your car, your home, and also cause serious injury or even death. This is why I will not share further details, pictures, etc. of how I did this as any DIYer must take full responsibility for their own design and installation quality for such retrofits.

Based on my direct individual experience and from what I have learned on this forum, the related Cmax forum, and also the related F150 forum I think we can all agree: To put it mildly: Ford could have done much better on both communication and execution on this entire issue. In my ridiculous experience: they built 2020 FFEs with 3G modems (TCU)! As is the case with all dealer service some dealers sweat the details and sadly some don’t. In my case two major regional dealers had no idea what this was all about. One said they would do research and call me back and they never did. I have had dealers botch an oil change, but yet others fix for free major issues I was not even aware of . . . Enough said on that fact of life Post 3G shutdown the MyFordMobile app (MFM) has been decommissioned and will not connect to your car. The fact that there is a workflow sequence still in the Ford system that points you to the MFM app is a bit ridiculous. As long as nothing else is wrong with your FFE via SYNC . . . and you still have the 3G (nor dormant) modem installed . .. while in your car you can change your charge profiles for scheduled charging and toggle back and forth between scheduled charging and charge immediately when plugging in. Adding an important clarification by another forum member, Locutus: “….you cannot setup or use location based charging profiles. That feature doesn't exist without the app.” Related to the above . . . As long as nothing else is wrong with your car . . . It will charge with a (now dormant) 3G modem installed, but you have no remote control whatsoever of the charging process. As related to this point and the prior: during my 3G to 4G DIY process multiple times I had setbacks (due mostly to not paying sufficient attention to details shared by other forum members) so I put the 3G modem back in so that at least I could manage the vehicle charging within the car via SYNC and each time this “manual” means via SYNC worked just fine with the dormant 3G modem back installed. As clearly documented on all these forums some dealers have been successful upgrading 3G -> 4G and thanks to the hard work of many of the forum members, Forscan, etc. many of us have successfully been able to do the 3G -> 4G upgrade ourselves. After a successful upgrade to 4G the Fordpass app does provide the essential remote control of charging functions as well as some other neat features, but as Fordpass seems to be evolving one has to be patient waiting for some improvements. Fordpass is clearly “a work in progress.” Regarding doing the 3G -> 4G upgrade yourself (DIY) you need to: read this forum from the beginning in great detail. (Reading the entire related CMax forum is also highly recommended) get all the correct parts and tools (including but not limited to the correct cables, a minimal 6amp battery charger for your 12V battery). . . .lots of stuff and each is important Learn how to use Forscan and and how to remove the interior trim panels (easy to find on YouTube) Follow each and every exact step. . .there are no shortcuts . . . All steps included you are in for 2-3 of hours of detailed work Be willing to accept all risks as a DIYer if you missed a step, hit the wrong key, had a defective part, problematic laptop, lightning strikes, etc, etc . . ..nobody on this forum can guarantee success for you. . . .we are all just sharing in good faith so that it may help others

Great Intel….Thanks! Hopefully somehow around the end of May we will find out the changes Ford came up with during the pause….TCU firmware to “UP?”, TCU settings change? Other ?

The Bluetooth version will work OK for basic DTC codes and minor configuration adjustments, but not only is bluetooth clearly not supported by Forscan in their online documentation I can share via personal experience that it will not work for the important firmware updates that you will need to do for the TCU. Indeed even though other forum members advised me against the bluetooth I tried it, had lots of issues, and wasted lots of time. If your laptop is USB 3.0 you also must use a USB 2.0 hub to force down the speed. All of this and lots of other crucial stuff is documented in detail in this forum and the related CMAX forum. It may take a bit of time to read through both forums, but it is highly recommended.

Hi . . .sounds like you are about to take the DIY journey. I recommend you read this entire forum first where will you will learn about the “H” TCU units that are required. Via eBay they are available for typically less than $200, but of course there is no guarantee. Rumor has it that the units that Ford uses are “renewed” so if you get a good one on eBay used may be irrelevant. Then you need to pick and get the antenna (about $35 from Ford and $20 from Amazon, but the Amazon one will cause a harmless DTC code). Getting Forscan setup properly, getting the correct cable, having a 6am battery charger on the 12v battery, proper settings for the TCU after you have updated the TCU firmware, having the URL handy for the connected car app needed for activiation, and even watching a YouTube video about how to get the rear package shelf out are all key steps.

If the 3G TCU (modem) is still installed in your vehicle (even though it can’t communicate over the airwaves) via Sync you should indeed be able to change your charge times and/or switch to “charge now.” Fordpass (or MFM) via your smartphone or online are not relevant until a 4G modem (TCU) has been installed and configured in place of the 3G TCU. Once your 4G TCU is installed (by the dealer or via DIY) you make a request to authorize the car (if DIY the “connected car” app is by far fastest) and then you will be prompted on SYNC to confirm. Then Fordpass will start working. I realize it is >10 pages of stuff, but there is a gold mine in this forum from pioneers much smarter than I am on this process. So it is worth a read. The Cmax forum on the same topic is full of great material too. While a few dealers have left a number of FFE owners out to dry on the 3G ->4G upgrade a bunch of us DIY types have pulled it off. For nearly a month now we have been able to use Fordpass via 4G for the identical functionality we had with MFM over 3G.

IMHO you are completely justified in your concern since based on my direct experience with the DIY process documented on this forum (as well as the the related Cmax and F150 forums) there is no reason why if the dealer is having a challenge with the upgrade to 4G they couldn’t put the dormant 3G TCU back in your car and offer the car back to you until they get the appropriate parts, figure it out etc. Yes, with the 3G modem the car will be “off the grid” all the charging variables can be manually controlled via SYNC. Regarding the actual time to accomplish the 4G upgrade if one is a tech that has done this multiple times so is familiar with all steps: 1) physical TCU 3G to 4G swap . . . if the trim panels cooperate . . . 15 minutes max. 2) TCU programming . . .one would think the H series 4G replacement units were pre-configured by Ford, but even if not the firmware/config takes <2 hours (mine took exactly 54 minutes). 3) Then you have the activation sequence which via the connected car app and SYNC takes only a few minutes.

I knew something was suspect with my >2 year old 12v battery when a few times each week I would find in the morning upon getting into my FFE there was a message on the SYNC screen saying “system disabled to save battery” even though the car was plugged into live the 240v charging cable. One of my theories was that perhaps the original 3G modem was pulling more power than normal due to the trying to find a 3G connection (this was after the ATT 3G shutdown) as in “ET trying to phone home” ? My battery charger has a “recover” mode, and I tried that to resurrect the battery (the charger’s screen said it was successful), but I would still get the messages on SYNC about “ . . .to save battery.” Then I started reading the stories about awkward process one has to use to get in the car if the 12v battery fails and decided to replace the battery. Ironically all the Ford dealers in the area were back ordered on that particular battery, but I learned from a parts guy at one of the dealers that AutoZone carried the identical battery (rated 20% higher CCA) so I purchased it there. Other than the 2020 FFE’s 12v battery having the external venting port it isn’t anything special so is likely susceptible to all the variables involved in lead acid battery life expectancy. I found it interesting that on my 2020FFE the 12v battery was larger than the one in 12v in my 2015 Fusion Hybrid which did last >4 years, but that vehicle did not have a 7/24 modem (aka TCU) in it so perhaps Ford increased the battery size once they started using TCUs in these vehicles.